One Day
by jensmiling
Summary: Finn and Rachel meet by chance in a crowded hallway during freshman year on 31st October, 2009. What follows is the next twenty years of their life and how fate keeps them both apart and together. The premise is taken from the novel One Day.


_**This is my new story, based on the novel One Day. The idea is each chapter will tell a year of Finn and Rachel's lives, always narrated on the date they met. I am only using the novel as a premise so it won't follow it's storyline and it doesn't matter if you haven't read it. In turn, it won't necessarily follow the storyline of the tv show. Hope you enjoy, if so please review!**_

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><p><strong>ONE DAY<strong>

**30****th**** October 2009**

He didn't see her coming.

Years later, if you ask her about it, she'd probably say the same about him. Although it's kind of impossible to imagine considering the sheer size of the lumbering, awkward jock that tended to _gallop _down the hallway rather than walk.

But he didn't see her.

Which is how on the 31st October 2009, Rachel Berry ended up sprawled out on the floor below Finn Hudson's locker.

Initially dumbstruck, he peered down and took in the scene. Her purple skirt with the lace trim had ridden up so high that he could just about make out the clean, crisp panties underneath (which kind of excited him) and the contents of her bag had sprawled out sporadically onto the wooden, polished floor. He couldn't make out all of the details but he remembered a lot of glittery, shiny surfaces (which kind of confused him) and a copy of the 'Ultimate Guide to Broadway Musicals.'

"Are you going to help me or are you just going to spend the duration of this time gawping into this distance while I heroically gather my belongings myself?" she demanded, as she scooped up a bedazzled hairbrush and shoved it into her backpack.

He apologised quickly and swooped down to the floor; beginning to gather a bunch of papers that had scattered like a delicate fan around this tiny girl's body. He glanced at the pink writing on the sheets; full of to-do lists and exclamation marks.

_Who was this girl?_

"I'm really sorry" he added, handing the now stacked papers to her, "I was just kinda running through this week's plays in my head and you're kinda small and I guess I didn't see you coming." He took in her frown and continued "I'm Finn by the way."

"Yes I'm perfectly aware of you are, thanks very much." She snapped, as she finally pulled herself of the ground; shooing away the hand he had offered her. "Popular you may be but that doesn't give you the right to stumble around the hallway, knocking what ever may be out of your path. I'm now fifteen minutes late to Glee club, which means I've most likely missed an important solo opportunity and once again I'll be resigned to backing vocals. Oh and please do close your mouth now, you may be considered the hottest guy in school, but when you do that you look like a gaping fish which is terribly unbecoming."

He breathed in audibly. Nobody had ever talked to him that way. He'd expected the name calling and insults as soon as he'd arrived at high school but it had surprised him that he'd actually turned out to be popular. Joining the football team had helped. So had Quinn Fabray declaring him the hottest guy at school since it turned out Noah Puckerman was one mark on his permanent record away from exclusion. It seemed that beating guys up for fun might be hot, but petty crime was most definitely not.

Yet this girl, this tiny, loud, bordering on crazy girl had just insulted him and well….

_He kind of liked her. _

He shook his head quickly as she began to walk away. Maybe it was the panties, he thought. Because this girl was rude, and tiny, wore sweaters with strange patterns and she was in the frickin Glee club apparently. He didn't know what it was but he knew it sounded lame.

So he couldn't really explain why he ran (well jogged-after all his strides were two of hers) after her.

"Hey!" he said as he walked by her side "you get to insult me and I don't even get to know your name."

"It's Rachel." She said, pausing as she reached the auditorium doors. "Rachel Berry. Remember it, because you'll see it in lights one day. Now if you'll excuse me…"

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><p>He couldn't concentrate for the rest of the day and ended up totally flunking out during football practice. He drove home in a kind of daze and googled the words 'love at first sight' to see if it was a real thing or something they just put in movies to make chicks cry. He didn't get what it was about this girl. <em>She wasn't even nice to me,<em> he thought.

At 8.37 pm he googled her and was surprised to find a My Space that she had just updated that evening. Listening to her sing seemed to make his head explode. The comments below made him realise whoever this Rachel Berry was, she was definitely _not _popular.

Laying awake that night, he told himself that whoever Rachel Berry was he'd probably never see her again. They clearly didn't hang out in the same circles and it appeared that even being in the same room with her would be considered social suicide.

It was a big high school and he'd known this chick for one day. Tomorrow would be a new day, and then there would be a new month, a new year. And soon enough, one day he would forget that Rachel Berry even existed.

That was the last thought Finn Hudson had in his head before he finally succumbed to sleep at 11.59pm that night.

Fortunately for him, fate can never be rationalised into a few simple sentences.

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><p><em>That's it so far. I have had this idea for ages but not sure if it works so I'd love some feedback. If I get enough reviews, I'll continue (not trying to bribe people here but I just mean if the response isn't great, I'll focus on my other stories instead)<em>


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